In telecommunication networks, mobile switching centers play tones and/or announcements at communication devices. The tones and/or announcements comprise audible signals playable for users of the communication devices. The mobile switching centers may employ the tones and/or announcements for various reasons. For example, some tones and/or announcements convey information to the users of the communication devices while other tones and/or announcements request information from the users of the communication devices. Other tones and/or announcements indicate occurrence of an event in the telecommunication networks or a condition of the telecommunication network.
Often users of the communication devices know the meaning of certain tones and/or announcements without having to hear the tones and/or announcements play to completion. For example, after hearing a tone and/or announcement one or more times, the users of the communication devices may remember the meaning associated with the tone and/or announcement after hearing just a portion of the tone and/or announcement. The tone and/or announcement in one example is played at the communication device during a communication session, such as a telephone call. After hearing the portion of the tone and/or announcement, the users may desire to interrupt the tone and/or announcement to proceed with a next phase of the communication session.
Manufacturers of the telecommunication networks in one example hard code one or more announcements as being interruptible by the users of the communication device. For example, the manufacturers of the telecommunication networks may permanently designate the one or more announcements as interruptible prior to deployment of the telecommunication networks. As one shortcoming, the pre-deployment designation of an announcement as interruptible or not interruptible is not dynamically changeable during operation of the telecommunication networks. As another shortcoming, the telecommunication networks do not allow interruption of tones.
Thus, a need exists for a telecommunication network that allows for dynamically provisioned designations of tones and/or announcements. A further need exists for a telecommunications network that allows interruption of tones.